Bowieverse Drabbles
by startraveller776
Summary: 100 word Labyrinth drabbles inspired by the songs of David Bowie. Most, if not all, feature Jareth and Sarah.
1. Awakening

**_General Disclaimer for all drabbles:_ I own nothing, much to my chagrin. No copyright was harmed in the creation of these 100 word ficlets. **

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Golden Years" - David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** I've decided to participate in the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem drabble challenge. I'm a bit behind, but here's my first one:

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><p><strong>Awakening<strong>

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><p>There was nothing left for him. No vibrant color, no gentle breeze to bring promise of something new and exciting. He had only staleness that had been his existence for more than a century.<p>

Once he had been revered, feared, desired, but he had passed from mortal knowledge—no longer even a fanciful tale told to wayward children. He flew Aboveground, cringing at the technology that had replaced the magic of imagination and knowing he was forever chained to the Labyrinth that no longer served a purpose.

Until…

_"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now."_

**~Fin~**


	2. Little Mortal Girl

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "China Girl" - David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** And here's the next drabble for the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem challenge.

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><p><strong>Little Mortal Girl<strong>

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><p>She doesn't belong in his world. He knows if he steals her away, eventually eternity in the Underground will wash away her vibrancy. She'll lose the sense of wonder that drew him to her in the first place. He should keep to his Labyrinth and goblins, and forget about the girl—<em>woman<em>, now.

He should, but he won't.

Leaning against her car, he waits for her to leave work, and plans his seduction. He needs her like he needs the magic that courses through his body. She is part of him, and he _will _live within her. Whatever it takes.

**~FIN~**


	3. Just Once

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "I Would Be Your Slave" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** I'm a bit stalled in writing, so I figured it was time for a drabble.

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><p><strong>Just Once<strong>

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><p>He waits on the park bench, sprawled like a lazing cat, but inside taut as a piano wire. She'll come by, clad in a tank top and shorts, running. Running like she always runs from him. Why does he bother? She'll never gaze at him with anything but derision—the villain broken by a girl's cruel eyes years before.<p>

_Walk away._ Sage advice he can't follow.

He craves a softening in her eyes, one moment where she lets her guard down, and he would give her anything, be everything for her. Just one smile and he would be her slave.

**~FIN~**


	4. Surrogate

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Queen Bitch" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** This one is on the darker side.

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><p><strong>Surrogate<strong>

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><p>Sarah's back slammed against the wall as her nameless companion groped her with clumsy hands. She didn't care about him—any of them. They were merely a means to an end—tools to make her feel something, anything. To chase the numbness away.<p>

It was over as quickly as it began, leaving her alone again with her emptiness. With a sigh, she glanced down the empty alleyway, finding the Goblin King leaning against the building.

He shook his head as he smirked. "You can do better than that." His eyes traveled her body. "You have only to say my name."

**~FIN~**


	5. Spiral

**Character(s):** Jareth (DARK)  
><strong>Song:<strong> "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

A/N: Another dark one.

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><p><strong>Spiral<strong>

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><p>He doesn't realize, doesn't know she's invaded everything. She's gone, but always in his thoughts, infecting them with hatred, with desire.<p>

He won't conjure a crystal, won't call up her image, won't stare at it for hours. Wanting. Needing. Lies he tells himself every morning he wakes. Lies obliterated when he caves. When he smashes the clear orb against the wall in anger. At himself for craving her. At her for forbidding him.

He's going mad, a spiraling descent into hell that he's unaware of. Each step on the gentle slope seeming so innocuous, until he's lost forever in her.

**~FIN~**


	6. Gossamer Promises

**Character(s):** (Dark) Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Love You Till Tuesday" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** Okay, I love David Bowie, but there are some songs that I'm not the most ardent fan of. This is one of them, despite how the lyrics seem to suit "Labyrinth" so well. (Although, the very last line of the song is actually pretty awesome, lol.)

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><p><strong>Gossamer Promises<strong>

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><p>He haunted her, making the air thick with his hunger. His warmth breath would caress her neck, swirl her hair, whisper her name with aching longing. She tried to resist, tried to remember that he was the immutable villain, but he was inexorable.<p>

"Only forever," he murmured, in his eyes danced the vision of an eternity of magic.

She relented.

He took her, showed her the pleasure of letting him have power over her. She died and was resurrected over and again. When she was spent, sweat-soaked, gasping, he rose and smirked as he dressed.

She never saw him again.

**~FIN~**


	7. Unyielding

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Cat People" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** I think the challenge is up to 30 songs now (this drabble challenge comes from the J/DB Fangirl Harem—link in my profile), so I've decided to do a drabble a day until I'm caught up. :) (Oh, and I love this song, even though his 80's work tends to be my least favorite, lol.)

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><p><strong>Unyielding<strong>

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><p>Her verdant eyes, so cold, so cruel, beckon him, even as she pushes him away. They are his siren call, the spell that has finally captured the king of the goblins, chained him for eternity.<p>

If he is bound, then he will bind her. He comes again and again. His rage grows with every failed attempt—rage at her implacable defiance, at his inability to relent. Still he comes, plots, grasps, threatens, cajoles—all but pleads. Her answer is the same each time.

_Go back to your kingdom. Play with your goblins and your Labyrinth._ Forget about the girl.

Never.

**~FIN~**


	8. Only a Dance

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "John, I'm Only Dancing" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** If you listen to this song, you have to find the single version. The sax really fills out the sound. (Although, his music video for the song is quite lovely.) Yes, I'm having a Bowie fangirl moment.

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><p><strong>Only a Dance<strong>

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><p>Her breath catches when she sees him in the crowd, advancing on her with unnerving determination. Seven years has passed since he last stalked her through a ballroom. Seven years since he spun her, sang to her, awakened an ache she was too young to understand.<p>

She understands now.

He holds out a hand, and when she balks, says, "Come now, it's only a dance." He leans in, whispers against her cheek, "I have no power over you, remember?" Chills finger up her spine as he pulls her into his arms, smirking.

Only a dance and she is lost forever.

**~FIN~**


	9. Should You Need Us

**Character(s):** Hoggle  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Everyone Says Hi" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N: **You'll pardon my fangirling in the author's notes, but I just have to say that "Heathen" is probably one of Mr. Bowie's most underrated albums.

And yay! Hoggle gets to come out and play for once!

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><p><strong>Should You Need Us<strong>

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><p>He waits.<p>

She calls less and less often until her voice becomes a dim memory. Still he waits, ready to traverse the portal between their worlds. Ready to reminisce, to hear her laughter, to see her animated expressions as she recounts her day, her week, her life. He wants to tell her how many fairies he's downed, about the new bridge in the bog, the latest prank the hat has played on the wise man.

No one misses her more. Not even that rat who rules the Labyrinth—no matter how he broods as he studies his crystals.

He waits.

**~FIN~**


	10. Longing for Magic

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Life on Mars" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** One of the best David Bowie songs EVER.

At the moment, I'm battling stomach flu. Isn't that awesome? I thought so. *_sigh_* All viruses should be fired. Just sayin'.

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><p><strong>Longing for Magic<strong>

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><p>She doesn't notice it at first, goes on with life as if she had never experienced another world, never witnessed magic in fantastic and terrible ways. She takes the lessons and grows up.<p>

Each year, a veil is lifted, inch by inch, until she can't ignore the hidden monotony of her existence. Every fight between her parents is the same. Every news cast repeats with different names. Every new film a recycled plot, the same distraction people happily pay to see.

The tedium is suffocating her. She knows there's more. She's tasted it, touched it, lived it once.

_I wish…_

**~FIN~**


	11. An Appealing Possibility

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Be My Wife" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N: **Fangirl moment: I love what Mr. Bowie does in music, so interesting and original. And have you noticed how much love he gives the bass line in his music? If you haven't, listen for it next time you hear a Bowie song.

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><p><strong>An Appealing Possibility<strong>

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><p>Millennia after millennia he's wandered, explored, experienced. He's crossed from realm to realm, touching, tasting exotic riches. He's loved hundreds, hated thousands and missed none. Each pleasure, every pain is fleeting, a mere breath in a merciless eternity. He accepts this as his existence, his purgatory.<p>

Until…

She's too young, but she's not cowed by him, even when fear trembles plainly in her wide green eyes. She challenges him, defies him, awakens a long sequestered loneliness within him. She's too young, yet he is compelled to offer her everything if she'll but stay. She refuses.

He'll offer again and again.

**~FIN~**


	12. Legend

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "New Killer Star" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** Even though this is one of my favorite Bowie songs, man did I have a hard time coming up with a drabble for it! (Truth be told, I'm rather enamored with **UndergroundDaydream**'s drabble for this one.) I ended up using only a small portion of the lyrics for inspiration, which I will share in the end notes.

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><p><strong>Legend<strong>

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><p>He is fable. He is lore. He walks the twisted turns of his Labyrinth, fingers brushing each corner, in the pages of a book. He dances crystal dreams over the backs of his hands, his laughter nothing more than the wisp of imagination.<p>

He is folktale. He is myth. He is the monster under the bed, the boogieman in the closet, an allegory meant to scare wayward children. He lounges on a battered throne, ignoring his carousing minions, trapped in an illustration. Forever frozen. Never real.

Until she makes a wish.

And he appears in shining brilliance. Tangible and terrible.

**~FIN~**

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><p><strong>AN:** Pertinent lyrics:

_See my life in a comic  
>Like the way they did the Bible<br>With the bubbles and action  
>The little details in color<em>


	13. Phantoms

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Seven" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N: **Such a beautiful, heartbreaking song. It occurs to me that I'm 5 drabbles behind on my commitment to drabble daily until I'm caught up. Eek! So, enjoy (I hope) the sudden influx of miniscule tales today. :)

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><p><strong>Phantoms<strong>

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><p>Time flows through him like an ethereal apparition, taking his memories and leaving only the breath of phantoms. He recalls only splinters of his life, an image of war, a flash of laughter, a teardrop of pain. He grasps at each experience, but ultimately eternity will diminish each moment until they become indistinct shadows.<p>

She is not immortal, and she too will fade out of his recollection. But while her heart still beats, he lives. He holds her, loves her, needs her.

And when she's gone, he'll bury himself in time—hating that he'll forget her as he's been forgotten.

**~FIN~**


	14. Hello Again

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "The Man Who Sold the World" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** This is probably the most story-type drabble I've done so far. The song was surprisingly hard to write for, so I ended up going with small part of the lyrics as inspiration again.

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><p><strong>Hello Again<strong>

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><p>She put away her toys, her costumes, her gauzy fantasies. She embraced the sharpness of reality, flitting from continent to continent in search of home.<p>

She almost didn't notice him at first, lounging against the wall of a stairwell. His unusual eyes halted her steps. Searching his angular face, she asked, "Do I know you?"

"Don't you remember?" he replied, a grin stretching his lips. "I'm an old friend."

Her heart clenched as she gasped. But the king of the goblins hadn't been real! As if sensing her disbelief, he brushed a finger against her cheek.

"Hello again, precious thing."

**~FIN~**

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><p>Pertinent lyrics:<p>

_We passed upon the stair  
>We spoke of was and when<br>Although I wasn't there  
>He said I was his friend<br>Which came as some surprise  
>I spoke into his eyes<br>I thought you died a long, long time ago_

_..._

_I searched for form and land  
>For years and years I roamed<br>_


	15. A Taste

**Character(s):** Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Fashion" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** The song (particularly the lyrics) made me think of the ballroom scene in the film.

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><p><strong>A Taste<strong>

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><p>He meanders through the throng of dancers, laughter trailing behind him. Men spin women close. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three…<p>

She stands in the center of the floor, her eyes wide with naivety. Her silver dress is a beacon of innocence in a sea of debauchery. So pretty, so precious. He smiles. The predator has found his prey.

Oh, little girl. Doesn't she know she's too young to play these games, to dream these dreams?

He'll give her a taste—something to remember him by until she's matured enough to appreciate all he has to offer.

**~FIN~**


	16. Summons

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Look Back in Anger" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** So, I usually don't use the actual lyrics in my drabbles, but I couldn't resist this time. (Love the music video for this.)

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><p><strong>Summons<strong>

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><p>She should have called him by now, should have found the trail of crumbs he left for her. She should be standing before him, ready to fall into his arms, into his bed. She should be his.<p>

He counts the months, the years. He sits on his ragged throne, pretending at nonchalance as frustration prickles him. Why doesn't she come?

He crosses to her world, driven by the dark need to possess her—angry that he's forced to such measures. She gasps when he finds her, gapes at his outstretched hand as he says:

"It's time we should be going."

**~FIN~**


	17. The First Surrender

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "The Motel" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13 (strong)

**A/N:** I heart this song so hard, it's embarrassing. So gorgeous and sultry. I just want to wrap myself up in it and read good Labyfic. Yummy. (And yes, I have both the original version from "Outside" and the live version from his Reality tour. *happy sigh*)

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><p><strong>The First Surrender<strong>

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><p>She fights the way he glances at her with a smirk dancing in the corners of his mouth. She resists the whispers he trails across her skin as he promises no shame in submission—his or hers, she doesn't know. She perseveres until the ghost of him prickles the base of her spine, making her body tingle with staggering anticipation—moments away from obliteration, desperate for oblivion.<p>

Tonight, she succumbs to his seduction. With languid touch, he brings the release she craves. Each breath is a thrill. Each beat of his heart against hers is exultation.

She is his forever.

**~FIN~**


	18. Someone's Face

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "I Can't Read" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** Okay, this is the most difficult song to date for me to write a drabble for. What's funny is that in the chorus it sounds like he's singing "I can't reach it." (Yes, that was my random oddball moment for the day, thank you very much. Please leave a contribution in the little box.)

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><p><strong>Someone's Face<strong>

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><p>The headlines are all death and money. Police chasing people. People chasing money. A relentless eternal loop that plays on the news, that dances across the papers. Celebrities, frienemies, grinning politicians kissing screaming babies. The latest serial killer, the newest Wall Street scandal. All the same. Never changing.<p>

But she flips through the rags in the checkout stands, even if the words have become worthless to her. She searches each picture, studies each image for the smirk that haunts her dreams, that lingers in her memory.

She never finds him. Never confirms that he had been more than adolescent imagination.

**~FIN~**


	19. Enticement

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Moonage Daydream" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Ah, Ziggy Stardust. Good stuff, good stuff. I love the original, but I highly suggest you search "David Bowie ~ Moonage Daydream (1997)" on youtube for a yummy modern version (especially the part where he sings, "Don't fake it, baby. Lay the real thing on me"—I melt every time).

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><p><strong>Enticement<strong>

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><p>I'm coming for you, like the fog fingering through the streets, swelling until it blankets the earth. I will be the glint of magic you see in your periphery, smiling in the corners when you turn to look.<p>

You pretend you don't want me or what I have to offer. You're a poor liar. I've seen your eyes flutter closed, heard the thrumming of your heart when you feel my heated breath upon your skin. You want to worship at the church of the Goblin King in spite of your denials.

Give in, Sarah. I'll show you worlds without end.

**~Fin~**


	20. We Can Beat Them

**Title:** We Can Beat Them  
><strong>Character(s):<strong> Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Heroes" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** How anyone could not love this song, I'll never know. Of all Bowie's non-Labyrinth songs, this is my favorite for Jareth/Sarah.

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><p><strong>We Can Beat Them<strong>

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><p>"It won't work," she murmurs as he tangles his fingers in her dark tresses, pulling her close. She doesn't resist him, though—doesn't fight the intensity of his eyes as they glide over her face, hungry and determined. He has announced he is taking her as his queen—decided without asking her. But he doesn't need to; he already knows her heart. "They'll tear us apart."<p>

He smiles with thrilling, terrifying resolution. "Let them try. Let them quiver behind their rules, living their small lives full of fear and shame." He caresses her cheek. "They have no power over us."

**~FIN~**


	21. Got a Light?

**Character(s):** Toby  
><strong>Song:<strong> "The Laughing Gnome" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** Ain't gonna lie. Between this song coming up next and the crazy last few days I've had… Well, let's just say I got a bit stalled on my Bowieverse Drabbles. (**UndergroundDaydreams**, I'm still giving you the side-eye for this song choice—not that I don't like it. I just don't know how to drabble to it!) I rather enjoy Mr. Bowie's "Requiem for a Laughing Gnome" as well. Youtube it!

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><p><strong>Got a Light?<strong>

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><p>A tingle started in the base of Toby's spine, crawled up to his shoulders. This must be what Sarah means when she shivers, saying, "I feel like someone just walked across my grave." He always found that statement creepy—and cool.<p>

He whips around, sure that nefarious eyes are upon his back. There are. A little man stands before him, a vermillion conical hat resting high on his head. He grins at Toby with yellowed teeth. A cigarette dangles between his fingers.

"Got a light?"

Toby blows out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Oh, it's just you."

**~FIN~**


	22. Regrets

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Shadow Man" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** Such a gorgeous song with amazing lyrics. *_happy sigh_* Both the original version from the 1970's and the track from his unreleased "Toy" album are fantastic. The latter version is what inspired this drabble.

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><p><strong>Regrets<strong>

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><p>She haunts me, ghosting down every corner of my Labyrinth with her defiant chin, her cruel eyes. I hear her laughter echoing through the fiery wood. I can never escape her, never erase her from the grey vault of memory.<p>

She is a mirror. Her apparition shows me every mistake I made, painting my sorrow black and red. I should never have danced with her, nor looked into her pink-cheeked innocence and discovered a quiescent equal who only needed years to awaken.

I am barred forever by her words. Pricked eternally by what could have been but will never be.

**~FIN~**


	23. Consent

**Character(s):** Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Right On Mother" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** Okay, so I got a little creative with this one. I didn't want to go the more Toby route since **UndergroundDaydreams** did it so well already. I guess you could consider this drabble a quasi-sequel to "We Can Beat Them" a few chapters back. ;)

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><p><strong>Consent<strong>

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><p>He isn't afraid. He's never afraid when he stands before the council, looking up at their aged faces with skin like amber parchment. They stare down at him with pale eyes and furrowed brows. Sarah's hand quakes in his, tightens around his fingers. He glances at her, finding no anxiety written in her grim features.<p>

The head councilman laughs, his gravelly voice more ancient than grass and trees. "What care we for who you take as wife?" he says. "You've never needed nor wanted permission from your elders for anything."

Another waves a frail hand. "Marry her, if you wish."

**~FIN~**


	24. In Between

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Space Oddity" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** One of the best ever Bowie songs! (And I love the kind-of follow up in "Ashes to Ashes.") BUT! It's a freaking _hard_ song to do a Labyrinth drabble to. Argh! (Star Trek? Now that makes sense, but Labyrinth?) By the way, any football fans out there might get a kick out of Jimmy Fallon's "TeBowie"—google it!

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><p><strong>In Between<strong>

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><p>"It's you," she whispers, a frown upon her rosebud lips.<p>

He smiles and says nothing as he brushes the hair from her eyes. She turns, taking in the infinite dots of light on a field of black. "Where am I?" she asks, confused.

"In between."

She glances at him. "What?"

His grin broadens. "An ending or a beginning."

His words make little sense to her. She tries to remember how she got here, but there is nothing. He presses a finger to her lips before she can speak.

"Be careful, Sarah," he says "Each choice comes with its own price."

**~FIN~**


	25. Strung Out

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Ashes to Ashes" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** So, I know I'm way behind on these. Real life's been a tad crazy these days. Rudeness. *_blows raspberries at Real Life_* Anyway, love this song. I always love it when Mr. Bowie references his other songs within a song, lol. This was tough to write with, however. I went for the general feel of the song.

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><p><strong>Strung Out<strong>

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><p>She tries to be ordinary—or close enough to it. She tries to smile, to laugh, to date, to live with both feet planted firmly on the ground. It's healthy, she tells herself, even if the world is painted in ash, grey and weathered.<p>

But she sees the blue circles of his mismatched eyes each night as she lies in her bed. She swears she won't call him, won't arch her back as his lips graze her throat. She won't let him tempt her with silken promises that come with consequences.

She relents every time, hopelessly addicted to his vibrancy.

**~FIN~**


	26. Farewell

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Hallo Spaceboy" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N: **I have concluded that even though David Bowie portrayed Jareth so well and wrote fantastic songs for "Labyrinth," not many of his regular music is easy to write a Laby-drabble to! Argh! I just do my best and hope it works, lol.

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><p><strong>Farewell<strong>

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><p>Do you know what you do to me? You lie there in quiet repose, lily skin iridescent in delicate moonlight. I taste color on every breath from your lips—a vibrancy so acute, it makes every fiber of my soul vibrate with need.<p>

I can never wake you. Or am I the one who slumbers, dreaming of the fairytale princess waiting for her prince to resurrect her? But I am not the hero you seek.

My world crumbles each time I'm denied you, and I want to be free of the power you hold over me.

Goodbye, precious. Goodbye forever.

**~FIN~**


	27. This Time

**Character(s):** Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Let's Dance" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Absolute favorite line in the song: "If you should fall into my arms and tremble like a flower." Yummy. I think this could be considered a sequel to "A Taste" (Chapter 15).

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><p><strong>This Time<strong>

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><p>She sways in the center of the floor, pleasure curling the corners of her carmine lips. The years have chiseled youth from her features, leaving behind a woman. She wears silvery white again, still incandescent with innocent belief—but not naivety. Not any longer.<p>

He watches her from the haunted corners, masked and grinning. She is his prey once again, the target he is always propelled toward.

He stalks her like a deadly prowler. This time he won't just give her a taste. This time he'll make her tremble with the potent need that drives him.

This time she'll fall.

**~FIN~**


	28. Once and Again

**Character(s):** Jareth & Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Strangers When We Meet" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Figured I only had three left. I might as well catch up. :)

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><p><strong>Once and Again<br>**

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><p>There is a cycle to things. The birth of fledgling love. The embers as it burns, dimly at first, then blinding. And then, the grey ashes when it dies. What she didn't understand, what she couldn't know is that the cycle never ends when time is no longer finite.<p>

He leads her in a dance, as if it is their first. As if they had never shared a bed, never hid in darkened corners to steal kisses. As if they never fought, never uttered hateful words. As if she never left.

The cycle begins again. This is what forever means.

**~FIN~**


	29. My Choice

**Character(s):** Toby  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Kooks" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Such a great song. I so love this line: "And a book of rules on what to say to people when they pick on you, 'cause if you stay with us, you're gonna be pretty kookie too." And this line too: "Don't pick fights with the bullies or the cads, 'cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's dads."

* * *

><p><strong>My Choice<br>**

* * *

><p>They had my life all planned. Become the captain of the football team, date the head cheerleader, get decent grades, stay out a little too late on a Saturday night on occasion. There was an invisible poster they held up of the all-American boy, and they measured me against it.<p>

And I saw the disappointment in their eyes.

I chose Sarah, though. I followed her around like a lost puppy, eager for the drops of magic left in her wake. I wanted to be a part of her fairytale—one without football jerseys and pom-poms.

And I've never regretted it.

**~FIN~**


	30. How Long?

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Underground" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Sometimes, I think I take the actual songs from _Labyrinth_ for granted. I don't think I really listened to the lyrics of this song until now, and my perspective has changed. Quite a brilliant song, actually. And it has deeper, darker implications (which I have chosen NOT to go with for this drabble).

OH! And I'm all caught up, now. Yay!

* * *

><p><strong>How Long?<br>**

* * *

><p>How long will you play at an ordinary existence? How long will you let undeserving lovers stifle your ebullient dreams and crush your heart? You have never been one of them, and no matter how you pretend, you never will be. How many rejections must you suffer before you awaken to this painful truth?<p>

I grow weary from waiting. Waiting for understanding to pour over you like rain, washing you free from your banal life.

Unlike your fickle mortal men, my love alone is true. No more hurt, precious. No more pain.

And all I ask in return is forever.

**~FIN~**


	31. Verisimilitude

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Quicksand" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** I am not really back to writing for Labyrinth (or any fandom for that matter), other than finishing up _Pertinacious Wills_ at my mother's behest. But I find that drabbling does help when I'm a bit stuck with writing—and drabbles are so much more fun to write for _Labyrinth_. :)

* * *

><p><strong>Verisimilitude<strong>

* * *

><p><em>You have no power over me.<em>

Useless words. He never did and never would—always at her mercy. That phrase and the others she repeated from the little red book—one of his many gifts to her after fate had decreed their meeting, their eventual joining—was meant to show her she was the dominate one.

_She_ reigned over _him_.

His life was in her adolescent hands, and she crushed him.

And yet, still he breathes, each heartbeat counting the hours, the years when she would be drawn to him and him to her once more.

Perhaps then she'll understand.

**~FIN~**


	32. Haunted

**Character(s):** Sarah & Toby  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Law (Earthlings on Fire)" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** I think I went with the feel of the song rather than the lyrics. There's a certain spooky, disconcerting quality to the song (which I like very much).

* * *

><p><strong>Haunted<strong>

* * *

><p>She isn't sure what wakes her at first in the dark of night. Disoriented and blinking in the pitch black room, she finds Toby sitting at the foot of her bed. The blond four-year-old stares at her in the moonlight with an unsettling keenness in his pale eyes. Chills prickle across her skin.<p>

Drawing up her covers, she speaks, not quite able to keep the tremor from her tone. "Did you have a nightmare, Tobes?"

The boy tilts his head and begins to sing, "There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes…"

Sarah screams until she has no voice.

**~FIN~**


	33. Who I Am

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Wishful Beginnings" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** Another dark, unsettling song. I love it.

* * *

><p><strong>Who I Am<br>**

* * *

><p>I played at being your nemesis—a role so authentic that it should have disturbed me. It did not. But I lost, as villains do, unable to seduce from you your love. You portrayed the heroine all too well, snatching your happy ending at the cost of mine.<p>

Undaunted, I changed the game, approaching you as a friend—earning your trust inch by inch, your heart piece by piece. But as I hover over you, ready to make you mine forever, I can no longer pretend.

I'm sorry, little girl. I am the demon you once thought me to be.

**~FIN~**


	34. Undone

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Can You Hear Me" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** David Bowie and lyrics: such a beautiful, yummy combination.

* * *

><p><strong>Undone<strong>

* * *

><p>Isn't this what you've wanted?<p>

You stole a dance from me once, staring down at me with a devouring gaze, and awakened a hunger no adolescent girl should feel. Though it wasn't conscious, in that heartbeat, you became the standard with which I measured all others against. No matter how many dates I've gone on through the years, how many wet kisses I've endured, no one has been equal to you.

I loathe that, with a moment of throwaway seduction, you've ruined any chance for me of common romance.

You've won this gambit, Goblin King. Come and claim your prize.

**~FIN~**


	35. Shades of Vengeance

**Character(s):** Jareth/Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Station to Station" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** And I believe this one catches me up for the moment. I'm almost sad. I'd forgotten how fun it is to write a micro-fic.

* * *

><p><strong>Shades of Vengeance<br>**

* * *

><p>He would cast her off if he could—as he has done with all other insolent children who dared to rise up to his challenge. That the mere slip of a girl rendered him nearly impotent means nothing. She is worthy only of his loathing, but it is too late for that.<p>

There is no room for hatred when one is already overcome with insidious love.

He advances on her—girl no more—enjoying the delicious way her eyes widen in fear.

This is his retribution. He will have her heart—to replace the one she has stolen from him.

**~FIN~**

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** A funny aside: as I was working on these drabbles to hone my rusty writing back to a passable gleam, my mother walked by. (She's visiting with us at the moment.)

"What are you doing?" she asked. Before I could answer, she said, "Oh, you're writing." At my nod in the affirmative, she added, "You're working on _my_ story, right?"

I wasn't. I was drabbling to get into the mood to work on my novel. The story she's referring to is _Pertinacious Wills_. (My Regency-ish AU _Labyrinth_ fic which has been on hiatus for a long time.)

Since she is the matriarch, I suppose I'd better bang out the first draft of the next chapter before I dare think of working on my novel again. ;)


	36. To Settle a Score

**Character(s):** Toby  
><strong>Song:<strong> "You Feel So Lonely You Could Die" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13 (DARK)

**A/N:** So, yeah. I've been playing a bit in Lokidom, but it's time to get back to my truest love: Labyrinth. And so I figured I'd drabble as a warm-up before tackling my Labyfic wips. XD

* * *

><p><strong>To Settle a Score<br>**

* * *

><p>They never believed me when I spoke of a dark-haired girl with vibrant eyes. My mother patted my head, thinking the girl some figment of my childish imagination. Over the years I learned to keep my mouth shut to avoid my parents' unsettled looks and whispered concerns.<p>

But I never doubted what I knew of the girl who haunted my bedroom mirror. She was my sister once. Kidnapped in the dark of night.

By you.

And so I am here to level your castle, Goblin King. To lay waste to your labyrinth.

To take back the life you have stolen.

**~FIN~**


	37. The Beginning

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Rock 'N" Roll Suicide" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> G

**A/N:** This one was a little tough to write for. But then, all the Bowie songs are…

* * *

><p><strong>The Beginning<br>**

* * *

><p>She sank to her knees behind the tree, her heart pounding as she waited for the others to give up the search. Tears roll down her cheeks. Weirdo, they called her. Freak.<p>

"Why do you weep, child?"

She started at the deep voice. A strange, beautiful man stood before her, head cocked with curiosity. He looked like he'd walked straight out of one of her fairytales.

"You cannot truly care what they say," he said. "Why should you ever want to be like them?" He crouched down, holding a little red book toward her.

"Magic doesn't belong to the ordinary."

**~FIN~**


	38. Cursed

**Character(s):** Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Sister Midnight" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** Holy crow, the lyrics of this song. I seriously should be more disturbed than I am.

* * *

><p><strong>Cursed<strong>

* * *

><p>Who are you? <em>What<em> are you? Some creature sent to torment me by the Fates for my insolence?

You are a child. You know nothing of the magic you invoked, nothing of the realm you invaded on a whim. And you blithely returned to your life, ignorant that every stone, every tree in my kingdom now bears your touch like a scorched brand.

I dream of you every night, of an ache as black as your innocence is white. I want you. I want to consume you. I want to undo the curse you've placed on me.

What _are_ you?

**~FIN~**


	39. This Isn't Love

**Character(s):** Jareth/Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13 (Dark)

**A/N:** You know, I forget sometimes how sultry David Bowie songs are. Sheesh. I feel like I need a cold shower.

* * *

><p><strong>This Isn't Love<br>**

* * *

><p>She will destroy him. And he doesn't care.<p>

This isn't love. No, it isn't something so quaint and pure. This is obsession, hunger, need. She calls it addiction; he agrees. They are drawn together again and again. To replay the game. The battle. He will entice her with her dreams—dreams which have been corrupted by her desire for him.

He will seduce her. She will succumb eventually. And then, she will find a way to escape with the promise that this time is the last time.

But it never is.

He merely waits for the next round to begin.

**~FIN~**


	40. A New Game

**Character(s):** Sarah  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Let Me Sleep Beside You" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13

**A/N:** Aw. The rare fluffy-ish Bowie song. And I can't even write a proper fluffy drabble to it. Because Jareth. (I blame everything on him. "The car won't start! Because Jareth!" "It's raining again! Because Jareth!")

* * *

><p><strong>A New Game<br>**

* * *

><p>When did this happen? Sarah looks in the mirror, tracing the line of her jaw, the hollow underneath her cheekbones. She had somehow gone from child to adult in the days of sitting in a classroom, in the nights on stage beneath the spotlight. The girl had been shaped, sanded, and buffed into sharper relief.<p>

He will come for her now.

She'd known since that dance. She was too young then, untouchable. But she had seen in his beautiful face everything he wanted. He wanted her.

This time, he will have the advantage. The greater conviction.

And she will lose.

**~FIN~**


	41. So Much More

**Character(s):** Sarah & Jareth  
><strong>Song:<strong> "Fame" – David Bowie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG

**A/N:** Okay, this was my absolute favorite song on the "Pretty Woman" soundtrack when I was a kid. Seriously, I would rewind (cassette tapes—those were the days), and replay it over and over again.

* * *

><p><strong>So Much More<br>**

* * *

><p>It was hard not to feel superior when people began treating her like royalty. Sarah tried to keep her feet planted on the ground, but the fame had become addicting.<p>

"So this is what you wanted." The king of the goblins lounged on the sofa in her dressing room.

He rose with a somber expression. "Are you quite finished with this pathetic imitation?" He advanced toward her with a languid gait. "I can offer you so much more than this."

His words sent a thrill down her spine.

He leaned forward, and whispered against her ear, "Make a wish, Sarah."

**~FIN~**


End file.
